The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Lobelia plant botanically known as Lobelia erinus and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘Balwalila’.
The new cultivar originated in a controlled breeding program in Südlohn, Germany during the summer of 2002. The objective of the breeding program was the development of Lobelia cultivars with unique flower coloration and a vigorous, mounded, and semi-trailing growth habit.
The new Lobelia cultivar is the result of cross-pollination. The female (seed) parent of the new cultivar is the proprietary Lobelia erinus breeding selection designated 02P616, not patented, characterized by its pink-colored flowers, small, fine dark green-colored foliage, and loose, moderately vigorous growth habit. The male (pollen) parent of the new cultivar is the proprietary Lobelia erinus breeding selection designated 02P508, not patented, characterized by its large intensely blue-colored flowers, dark green-colored foliage, and upright growth habit. The new cultivar was discovered and selected as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the above stated cross-pollination during the spring of 2003 in a controlled environment at Südlohn, Germany.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal stem cuttings since late summer 2003 at Südlohn, Germany has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all of the characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.